UCMTF, groups 30 specialty textile machinery manufacturers, often world leaders on their specific markets.
Their total annual consolidated turnover of 1 billion Euros (1.1 billion US dollars) makes France the sixth textile machinery exporter. They are particularly strong in long fibre spinning, yarn twisting, heat setting, jacquard and dobbies, carpet systems, dyeing and finishing, felts and belts for finishing processes, nonwovens, air and recycling processes.
Bruno Ameline, the President and Evelyne Cholet, the Secretary General, UCMTF states the position of French machinery in 2015, the position of European and world textile industry, ITMA Milano 2015, benefits that ITMA visitors will get by visiting French machinery booths, how the French manufacturers deal with copycats.
How are the French textile machinery manufacturers doing in 2015?
In 2014, in most application sectors we are back to the best levels ever, many of our companies have achieved record sales and order intakes. 2015 is more uncertain as there is a lack of visibility in some major markets. Your own market, which makes up for slightly more than 10% of our sales, is very important for us, as you know. It is still very active thanks to the long-term managerial strategies of the Turkish entrepreneurs but there are some signs of short term slowing. Probably this slowing will not be very important neither very long as we have established long term partnerships with the major Turkish textile and carpet producers.
In China there is a real slowdown, visible in spinning and weaving and it is hard to say whether the slowdown will accelerate, if it will be a soft landing or whether growth and investments will rebound. I am more positive about India, the modernization of the textile industry is crucial for its future but investments decisions are slower that we did imagine.
Other Asian markets are active and the investment mood is very positive in many markets like Indonesia, Thailand or South Korea.
In Iran, its modernization is urgent, the entrepreneurs are in the starting blocks, the projects well advanced but the international political environment and the financial circuits are still uncertain. Soon, we will probably have more visibility on this market. The US economy is clearly growing, the shale gas and shale oil productions have a real impact on the cost structures, financing profitable investments is not a problem then it should be a positive market for our machines. It is for some of our companies in specific applications like technical textiles, carpet manufacturing or recycling but, as I already said, I do not think relocation will be a major trend in apparel textiles. In South America we are very disappointed by the Brazilian market. Growth has been stopped by the corruption problems. Markets like Western Europe, Eastern Europe or Central Asia are doing quite well but are not big enough to compensate if such a market as China would decline significantly. All together, I am positive for 2015 as we have a good order backlog and reasonably positive further down the road.
Yes, but in Europe the textile industry has shrunk. Has this industry any future in Europe?
It all started with apparel manufacturing which is labor intensive. Textile production followed to be closer to its customers even though it is mostly capital intensive. But many innovations and creativity still originate from Europe. Look at the most prestigious brands in apparel, the designers are based in such places as Paris or Milano. Look at the technical textiles, the European and American firms are still the most innovative and the production is still mostly European or American. Look at the textile machinery; the most important companies are from Europe and ITMA Europe the biggest textile event worldwide. Some companies are relocating in Europe or America to improve their customer’s service and take advantage of some cost differential like the price of energy and the quality of its supply. If I do not think that relocation will be a major trend but I believe that the downsizing of the textile industry in Europe is over and that the European textile machinery will continue to be a major player.
What are you expecting from ITMA in Milan?
ITMA 2015 is clearly a must to attend event. Up to now, 103 000 square meters of exhibiting space have been booked, this is already 25% more than the final results of the last session in Barcelona. During the last 4 years, the number of textile machinery manufacturers has certainly decreased due to mergers and consolidation that means that the offer is even more complete and that more space is needed to exhibit the machines. There will certainly be many innovations and an emphasis on energy, water and raw materials savings. ITMA’s 2015 motto is “master the art of sustainable innovation”, sustainability is certainly a major decision making feature of the investments decision-making process. The French machinery manufacturers have already made very interesting inroads into sustainability and we include this perspective into all our projects and R&D programs. In Milan, visitors are expected from all over the world, they will represent a great number of companies with investments projects. I feel the choice of the city where ITMA takes place is very important for the success of the expo. As you know, it rotates among European cities which can offer the appropriate expo centers, travel offer, and, I am sure it is very important, the best more subjective attractive power. Milan is certainly such an attractive place.
Why should the ITMA visitors come to the French machinery manufacturers booths?
Of course, to see each individual company’s innovations. Our companies are SME’s, run by real entrepreneurs. We are innovative and market oriented. We design and produce the machines, we offer the best service. This is in our DNA. About innovation, remember Jacquard, the most well known textile machinery inventor, he was French! Today, with our skills, expertise and experience, we develop creative and innovative solutions for our customers. We do it thanks to our engineers with both textile and mechanical backgrounds, thanks to our partnerships with 
our clients. Even if SME’s, the French machinery manufacturers have set up very effective networks to offer the best service to most remote customers’ locations. We support our clients wherever they operate. We do it through offices, warehouses, agents or distributors. For the spare parts, our members have been pro-active for the last few years, some have opened warehouses, in Gaziantep for example, to deliver the much awaited parts without transportation or customs delays and with the right level of service. We work with our clients to help them to introduce new products on their markets, to have reliable and cost efficient production processes. It gives us a real competitive advantage.
A danger can be the copycats, how do you deal with this issue?
Within our association, we have established an active working group on this strategic topic. We absolutely need to protect our intellectual property; it may be our most important asset. We will sue the counterfeiters very aggressively. We have strong arguments: our patents, our brands. Most of our customers who, as I said are our long-term partners, understand that this strategy is in their long-term best interest. We will become more and more pro-active concerning the use of counterfeited parts, as we cannot guarantee a machine, which uses counterfeited parts. Each company, national associations, the Cematex and the machinery shows have to work together on this strategic sensitive feature of our business. In this war against copycats we receive more and more support from the governments, the international bodies and the judiciary systems.
How your association helps the individual companies?
We meet very regularly and speak very openly about our strategies, projects and problems. As we offer complementary machines, we can team together to offer complete lines when our customers want to have one company responsible for its project. UCMTF Promotion committee under the chairmanship of our Vice-President International, Christian GUINET, is very active to promote our offer worldwide. Every year UCMTF organizes seminars in two countries. This April 2015, we were invited by M.Ilkhoom KHAYDAROV, the Uzbek Minister in charge of the textile industry and Chairman of the Board of the state joint-stock company for the light industry, to organize conferences in Tashkent and Bukhara. They were very well attended by the Uzbek textile companies.
In June, we organize 4 conferences in Iran, in Tehran, Kashan, Ispahan and Yazd. To describe more precisely our offer, and for us to understand better the Iranian customers’ needs and to really have direct contacts with them, we decided not to make a big event in one place but four regional ones. The UCMTF Promotion Committee also initiated in 2014, during one of such seminars to institutionalize our cooperation with the Russian textile industry. Mr Serguei RASBRODIN, President ofSOYUZLEGPROM, M. Christian GUINET and Mrs. Evelyne CHOLET, Vice-President International and Secretary General of UCMTF signed the formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 21, 2015 in Moscow.
How can we conclude?
Worldwide, textile manufacturers face an array of challenges: open new markets, design new products, produce them in a reliable, cost effective and sustainable way. To navigate in today’s fast changing environment, they need strategic partners such as providers of innovative industrial solutions and cutting-edge technologies. The French machinery manufacturers are well positioned to be such partners, they have a recognized expertise in finding solutions for critical projects, whatever their scope, whatever their geographic localization. The quality of our client relationships stems also from the high stability of our teams, allowing them to go well beyond the purely technical.
Personally, I am very happy to work in the textile industry because it is a fascinating world. When I think of apparel, I am fascinated by the creativity of the designers, by the quality standards, by the logistics of the producers and distributors. When I think of home textiles or carpet manufacturing, I am fascinated by the entrepreneurship of some carpet clusters.
Technical textiles that are opening so many new markets and growing at a fast rate are impressive. Needless to say, I am fascinated by the textile machinery, by the productivity of the machines, their reliability, the safety features for the employees, the energy savings achieved. I am also fascinated by some industry major events like the ITMAs. I really look forward with great expectations for this industry. We will welcome all interested parties on our booths at ITMA in Milan.
